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The European Cricket Championship is a group of various tournaments in which national cricket sides throughout Europe compete. The tournament is designed to encourage and develop the best players in countries where cricket is not a major sport, and Europe's only Test cricket playing country, England, does not currently enter a side. The games are 50-over one-day cricket matches. Most of these do not have One-day International status (see below for more details).

Contents 1 History 1.1 1996 1.2 1998 1.3 2000 1.4 2002 1.5 2004 1.6 2006 1.6.1 Division One 1.6.2 Division Two 1.6.3 Division Four 2 The future 2.1 2007 2.2 2008 2.3 2009 3 References

The first tournament was played in Denmark in 1996. The participating teams were Denmark, Gibraltar, Netherlands, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Scotland and an England Board XI. The tournament was won by Ireland after beating the Netherlands in the final.^[1]

In 1998, the tournament was split into two Divisions, although teams from the two Divisions still played each other in the final play-off matches. The teams from the previous tournaments were joined by France and Germany. The tournament was played in the Netherlands and was won by the hosts.^[2]

The Divisional structure was tightened for this tournament, with teams from the two divisions not playing each other. The teams from the previous tournament were this time joined by Greece and Portugal. The tournament was played in Scotland and was again won by the Netherlands. The second division was won by Gibraltar.^[3]

This tournament was held in Northern Ireland, with Austria replacing Greece from the previous tournament. It was won by the England Board XI. The second division was again won by Gibraltar.^[4]

In this year, the two Divisions were played in two different countries. Division One, played in the Netherlands, was again won by the England Board XI,^[5] whilst Division Two, played in Belgium was won by Italy. Austria and Portugal did not compete this year, although Norway made their debut in Division Two.^[6]

From 2006, the European Cricket Council have expanded the tournament to include five divisions of between 4 and 8 teams. Eventually, all five divisions will contain six teams.

Division One was played in Glasgow and Ayr. The games between Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands had full ODI status. The tournament was won by Ireland, who had also won the European Championship at all age levels.^[7]

Division Two was primarily played in Glasgow, with one game being played at RAF Lossiemouth for security reasons. Italy were absent, having been promoted to Division One. Greece made their return to Division Two after a six year absence, whilst the tournament saw the international debuts of Guernsey and Jersey. It was won by Norway, who will now play in Division One in 2008. Greece came in last place and will play in Division Three in 2007 after being stripped of their first round points due to fielding ineligible players. The tournament was met by protests due to the involvement of the Israeli team.^[8]

This tournament was played in Belgium, and featured the debut of Cyprus who played Finland, Luxembourg and Slovenia. It was won by Finland.^[9]

As already mentioned, the tournaments expansion will see five divisions played, with not all taking place in the same year. The structure for the next 3 years is as follows.

• Division Three: Cyprus, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Malta, Croatia, Isle of Man and Finland.^[10]
• Play off: Winners Division Three v Israel

• Division One: Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Norway
• Division Two: France, Germany, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey, winner of 2007 play off
• Division Five: Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and three teams to be decided.
• Play off: 6th Division One v Winners Division Two^[11]

• Division Three: Loser 2007 Play off, 2nd to 6th, 2007 Division Three
• Division Four: 7th+8th 2007 Division Three, Greece, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Slovenia.^[11]

Promotion and relegation play offs will take place between each Division.